I’m slightly concerned my husband is beginning to develop trust issues. When we moved to Indianapolis, he asked about severe weather. I told him it wouldn’t be anywhere near as bad as it was in Joplin. So naturally we had a tornado outbreak in November with one touching down 11 miles away.

He also asked how bad the winters were (remember – he’s born and raised South Carolina). I told him it would be worse than what we had in Joplin but not as bad as what my parents have in Chicagoland. So naturally it’s snowed 4 of the last 6 days and been unseasonably cold for weeks. Like a low of 1 tonight. ONE. With more snow in the forecast for tonight and Saturday.

So it only made sense that when he asked me what was for dinner and I told him Baked Felafel Parmesan followed by, “You’ll like it,” I was on the receiving end of skeptical face.

Nailed it. He may have made me take a bite first, but the husband was a fan. Proving that maybe I’m not such a lying liar after all. At least not on purpose.

Alterations

I used my sister’s felafel recipe which is exactly the same except there’s no chili powder. I also skipped the coriander because all I had was the little balls, and I couldn’t figure out a way to pulverize them (I’m open to suggestions).

The husband was born in raised in South Carolina. I’m talking lived there his whole life (minus 3ish months in Nashville) until I came along and blew it all to hell. Hashtag whoops.

Not only is he born and raised South Carolina, 99% of his entire family is as well. And that, kids, means I hear a lot about his grandmother’s cooking. Particularly her cornbread and buttermilk biscuits.

As it turns out, my mama didn’t raise no fool so every time he’d wax on about how amazing his grandmother’s cooking was, I’d just smile and nod with absolutely zero intention of ever trying to attempt anything he mentioned. Until now.

Somehow the husband persuaded me to try buttermilk biscuits. I warned him they would probably be nothing like his grandmother’s, but homeboy was desperate.

Clearly we learned why Yankees don’t make buttermilk biscuits. Not that these weren’t tasty – they were just a little tough. And, you know, a lot flat.

I suspect the toughness comes from the folding (which I would skip altogether next time now that I know the husband’s grandmother would make these as drop biscuits). I have no idea where the flatness comes from (although looking at the recipe again, the baking powder seems like brand new information which would maybe explain a lot). But, as we discovered, if you stack 2 on top of each other, they’re exactly the right height.

I’ve seen snow twice and it’s barely the middle of November. It’s entirely possible I did not think this move to Indianapolis through.

The upside, of course, is that it’s soup season! I could easily eat soup for every meal (the husband will tell you it’s related to the fact that I’m constantly freezing). When I was living by myself, I would heat up a can of soup for dinner on the regular because it was crazy stupid easy. Now, however, I prefer to make soup from scratch. It still tends to be crazy stupid easy, but it drastically cuts down on the amount of sodium. And, as well all know, for someone who’s paranoid about her cholesterol and blood pressure at the age of 30, that’s a huge win in my book.

Nailed it. Both the husband and I thought this was really really good – and that’s saying something considering he wasn’t a huge fan of stuffed peppers the one time I made them (I try not to torture him). I made this for dinner last night, brought leftovers for lunch, and since it’s yoga night, it’s entirely possible I’ll have this for dinner again tonight (I don’t cook on yoga night).

Send help.

Alterations

Remember how I said soup tends to be crazy stupid easy? It’s even easier when you make it in the Crock Pot. I browned the turkey, tossed everything in the Crock Pot, and cooked it on low for 5 hours.

Also, as we were eating dinner last night, the husband suggested maybe using turkey sausage next time. I’d say there’s about a 239534% chance of that happening.

I give the husband a lot of crap about being a nightmare when it comes to food. But when it comes to chili, I really have no room to talk.

For years, I refused to eat any chili that wasn’t my mom’s or my grandma’s (it was the same). The recipe is: ground beef (or turkey), a can of chili beans, a can of water, 2 cans of tomato sauce, 2 cans of water, and elbow noodles. As you can imagine, this creates more of a soup than a chili. And despite being told by several people that I could call it “goulash” or “chili soup” but under no circumstances was it “chili”, I maintained it was in fact chili. I also refused to eat the beans because ew.

Now, however, I’ve branched out in the chili I’ll consume. It started last Christmasish when my mom forced her new chili recipe on us. I was hungry, so I relented (but you better believe I set a stellar example for the nieces by picking out the beans). Turns out her new chili was even better than her old chili (hearsay!), and it was kind of easier to make since you just browned some meat, threw everything in the Crock Pot, and called it a day.

That experience was what some would call life altering – it led to me collecting chili recipes. But it was really only slightly life altering since I never actually took the plunge and tried a new recipe. Until now.

Nailed it. Remember how easy I said my mom’s new chili recipe is? This one’s even easier. There’s no browning of anything – just throw it all in the Crock Pot and 6 hours later dinner is served. And yes, I was a grown up and ate the beans.

Alterations

I halved the quinoa and chicken broth since my Crock Pot was getting a little full. But I think next time I’ll do the full cup of quinoa and leave the broth halved – it was a little soupy. I also used frozen corn instead of canned.

Nailed it. Delicious and adorable. I think these are my new favorite way to eat tacos. I also like that they’re incredibly easy to pull together and would make a great (i.e. less messy/awkward) alternative to nachos or dip at a festive event.

Alterations

I skipped the beans so my layers were: wonton, meat, cheese, wonton, meat, cheese. I then topped mine with salsamole while the husband ate his one layer at a time with guac on the side.

Naturally I had to point out meatballs are really nothing more than mini meatloaf. His response was a suspicious look followed by, “No.” (That was then followed by a winded explanation about what forms he likes his meat in. If you think that sentence sounds bad, you should have heard the whole conversation.)

I think it’s abundantly clear at this point that I’m dealing with a 31 year old toddler. But right now I kind of don’t care because I figured out a loophole to get meatloaf back in my life.

Nailed it. I’ve made this twice, and the husband has willingly eaten the leftovers both times (he’s not the only one). The first time, I served them in pitas with sweet potato fries on the side and ate the leftovers as a salad. The second time, I served them sans pita with smashed red potatoes and roasted broccoli on the side (yep – meatloaf style).

Real talk – don’t tell your husband you’re thinking about making pumpkin donuts unless you actually make pumpkin donuts within the next 15 minutes. Otherwise you’ll get distracted by football, the donuts will never make an appearance, and you’ll have to hear, “You know what sounds really good? Pumpkin donuts,” for the rest of the day.

I’ll be honest – I thought these were more like pumpkin bread in donut formation than actual donuts. However, his recipe made 12 pumpkin donuts and they were gone in 2 days sooooooooo I’m gonna have to go with nailed it.

Alterations

I wasn’t about to go buy butter olive oil for one recipe so I melted 1/3 cup of butter and called it good. I also used the equivalent of pumpkin pie spice for all the spices (1/2 tsp cinnamon = 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, etc.). And when it came to the cinnamon sugar coating, I couldn’t bring myself to dunk the donuts in butter since they already had 1/3 cup of melted butter in them. So I sprinkled the tops with cinnamon sugar before baking them. I’m pretty sure they’d also be amazing drizzled with maple syrup.